The British Empire and the Second World WarIn 1939 Hitler went to war not just with Great Britain; he also went to war with the whole of the British Empire, the greatest empire that there had ever been. In the years since 1945 that empire has disappeared, and the crucial fact that the British Empire fought together as a whole during the war has been forgotten. All the parts of the empire joined the struggle and were involved in it from the beginning, undergoing huge changes and sometimes suffering great losses as a result. The war in the desert, the defence of Malta and the Malayan campaign, and the contribution of the empire as a whole in terms of supplies, communications and troops, all reflect the strategic importance of Britain's imperial status. Men and women not only from Australia, New Zealand and India but from many parts of Africa and the Middle East all played their part. Winston Churchill saw the war throughout in imperial terms. The British Empire and the Second World War emphasises a central fact about the Second World War that is often forgotten. |
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... territorial holdings , once it had been able to appropriate British and French territories . Japan's resource - rich eastern empire would stretch from northern China to South - East Asia and the East Indies , built on the wreckage of ...
... territories of the British Empire mobilized fully for war , not just the self- governing Dominions of Australia , Canada , New Zealand and South Africa . ( The exception was the Irish Free State , a Dominion in name at least , which ...
... Territories , there were no formal British imperial holdings in China , yet British influence in Shanghai and the Yangtse valley amounted to a quasi - imperial pres- ence that was deeply affected by the course of the war . The territory ...
... territories . The system of imperial trade defined the British Empire and sustained Britain and most of the Empire's component territories , and it was as a trade defence force that the navy earned its bread and butter . 14 The ...
... territories ; the loss of Syria as a base for potential air operations against hostile forces in the Caucasus ; and the use of Indo - China as a base for Japan's attack on British South - East Asia . Similarly , the temporary ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
21 | |
41 | |
5 The Atlantic | 53 |
6 The Caribbean | 77 |
7 The Mediterranean | 97 |
8 Iraq Iran and Syria | 145 |
11 The Islands of the Indian Ocean | 307 |
12 India and Burma | 351 |
13 SouthEast Asia and the Far East | 405 |
14 Australia and New Zealand | 463 |
15 The Pacific | 513 |
16 Epilogue | 525 |
Notes | 535 |
Bibliography | 561 |